Saturday, April 27, 2013
Former manager of Upper Crust, including Wellesley location, now managing The Peel Pizza Company in Hingham, expected to open on Tuesday.
A former Upper Crust owner, who allegedly exploited his former employees, is now working for the new Peel Pizza Company, which will open in its former location in Hingham Square next week. Brendan Higgins, who was a co-owner of Upper Curst when it went bankrupt, is the brother-in-law of Peel Pizza Company’s owner, Matthew Troy. On Thursday, Troy said Higgins will be working for his new pizza business as a manager, but wants no affiliation to the Upper Crust. “This company is 100 percent owned by me,” Troy said. “It’s 100 percent my investment dollars. We have zero affiliation with the Upper Crust and we would like to keep it that way.” Higgins was a co-owner of the Upper Crust with Joshua Huggard and founder Jordan Tobins before they …
Monday, March 25, 2013
The new owners of Wellesley's Upper Crust say the product is the same, but the management is entirely different.
It's new management and new faces for Wellesley's Upper Crust, as it reopened this month under new management after being closed for several months. The firm UC Acquisitions purchased the property in January along with locations in Watertown, Boston's South End and Lexington during an auction after its previous owners filed for bankruptcy last year. Representatives met with the Board of Selectmen in February and were unanimously approved for their common victualler license. The troubled pizza chain's former owner, Jordan Tobins, was accused of several labor issues including failing to pay employees their wages, allegedly relying on undocumented workers for labor, and using company money for personal use. Despite reports from some media …
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Board of Selectmen Approve Upper Crust Wellesley for a common victualler license, restaurant set to reopen
Upper Crust is coming back to Wellesley--at least, it is set to re-open. The Board of Selectmen last night unanimously approved the common victualler license which would allow the restaurant to serve up pizzas once more. Representing UC Wellesley LLC, Shawn Shenefield, the original manager of Upper Crust's Wellesley location said he is returning to manage the restaurant. The location is set to re-open almost exactly as it was before it closed: the same layout, menu and recipes. Shenefield says he hopes to re-open the location by the end of the week. Upper Crust had been facing financial difficulties, and in September the company defaulted on a TD Bank loan. Company officials filed for bankruptcy protection, and a number of locations--…
Friday, January 4, 2013
A judge reportedly rejected efforts to keep a firm connected to the former Upper Crust owner from returning to the bankrupt pizzeria's storefront.
Weeks after an auction of assets belonging to the now-bankrupt The Upper Crust, an attorney representing former workers at the pizzeria chain reportedly has failed in an effort to buy the now-closed location on Central Street in Wellesley. The Boston Globe reports that lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan had offered to pay $200,000 more than the offer sale price that had been accepted at auction last month for the Wellesley, Watertown, Lexington and South End locations. The winning bid for those assets came from a firm with ties to the former owners of The Upper Crust. But according to the Globe, bankruptcy Judge Henry Boroff said it was too late for the lawyer's offer since all of Upper Crust’s assets were auctioned on Dec. 19.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Wednesday's bankruptcy auction was only of store leases and equipment, not of the Upper Crust franchise rights.
When Wednesday's auction of the embattled Upper Crust Pizzeria chain was done yesterday, and the smoke (somewhat) cleared, a company with ties to the pizzeria's founder, Jordan Tobins, reportedly had won control of the Wellesley store site. The Boston Globe reports that a Ditmars Ltd. affiliate— a private equity firm connected to Tobins — submitted the high bid of $110,000 for the Central Street location. That offer, says the Globe report, is only for the store lease and restaurant equipment, not rights to use the Upper Crust name. The same company also won bids for the Lexington, Watertown and South End store sites. The attorney representing immigrant workers said to have cheated of vast amounts of overtime pay won the bid for the …
42.295916
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The Upper Crust Pizzeria
99 Central St, Wellesley, MA
/articles/firm-with-ties-to-ousted-original-upper-crust-pizzeria-owner-wins-bid-for-wellesley-store
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Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Reported to be among the bidders at tomorrow's auction for the bankrupt pizza places: both ex-workers (& their lawyer) and ex-managers.
The attorney who represents ex-employees in a class-action lawsuit is among the bidders at tomorrow's auction for 10 Upper Crust locations. The pizza chain went under in October, with, says the Boston Herald, debt of $3-4 million. The Herald writes: The company sought bankruptcy protection after it defaulted on bank loans, the U.S. Labor Department forced it to pay $342,000 in back wages to 121 employees, and several lawsuits were filed against it. Some of those same employees, along with their lawyer, are among bidders for the bankrupt company, according to the Boston Globe. The Globe quotes attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, who represents workers in their suit, as saying: The plan is for employees to have ownership shares, and we are very…
42.295916
-71.2983
99 Central St, Wellesley, MA
/articles/bidding-to-buy-upper-crust-pizzerias-ex-workers-and-their-attorney
/locations/8411951
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
The pizzeria chain has closed several locations, and the future is uncertain.
The Upper Crust in Wellesley has closed its doors, and it is not clear whether it is just temporary or permanent. The Boston Globe reports that several locations of the pizzeria chain have shut down, temporarily at least. The Globe called the Watertown Upper Crust, where an employee said that restaurant was closed and that the company is undergoing reorganization and "we are closed for at least next couple of days." Upper Crust has been facing financial difficulties, and in September the company defaulted on a TD Bank loan. Company officials filed for bankruptcy protection. The company's troubles also include a U.S. Department of Labor ruling that they owed employees back overtime pay.
Natalie
9:54 am on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Thanks God this location was not given to Real Estates or Banks. There are plenty of them already. more ›